Darrel's 17.4g First Iwagumi Tank (56k Warning)

This is going to be my first attempt at an Iwagumi (ish) tank. I would really appreciate any feedback or insight anyone can give me. I'll keep updating this as I go along, but here's the specs of the tank:

I haven't entirely decided on what I'm planting in the tank but I may go with glossostigma and elecocharis acicularis. I just started the hardscape process, but so far I've liked this setup the best. What do you guys (and gals) think?

So it's been a week and a half since I've flooded the tank. I created a slope going to the right to create a triangle, but still using the rule of thirds with the main rock as the focal point.

So far everything seems to be going fine. The DHG is growing and sending runners out. The HC seems to be spreading out a bit more and I added some riccia yesterday to create a border between the DHG and HC.

These are my water test results so far. I don't think the tank is ready for fish just yet. The GH is at 107.4 ppm. Our water in San Francisco is naturally soft, but I 'accidentally' added one more capful of Aquavida Mineralize than I needed. I'm at the every other day water change schedule right now, so tomorrow's water change should bring down my GH right?

The tank is doing pretty well so far. I'm doing a 30% water change every 3 days. Dosing 3 pumps of Brighty K every day with alternating 3 pumps of Brighty K Step 1 and Special Lights. Also dosing Flourish Excel every day to help with algae.

I've had an algae problem for the past week. Brown cotton algae is covering some of my HC. Are those diatoms? I've also got some strands of green hair algae on my DHG and some of the riccia. I wedged some stem plants in the main rock to help fight against some of the algae. Is there anything else I should do?

On a bright note, my riccia is doing tremendous! Lots of pearling and it's growing fast. I wish my HC was doing just as well. I can't tell if it's spreading or not. Trimmed the DHG a week ago and it looks like its recovering well and sending out runners.

To top it all off, my Catalina fixture went on the fritz Monday night and now won't turn on. Hopefully, I hear back from them soon since I've had this fixture for less than a month. In the meantime, I'm going to pick up a Fishneedit fixture since they're based here in San Francisco. If I get my Catalina repaired, I can keep the Fishneedit as an emergency backup. I've also ordered a Giesemann Powerchrome Midday and Aquaflora T5HO bulb to replace the stock bulbs of the Fishneedit or Catalina fixture.

The lights have been off in the tank for the past day and half now, and I've turned off CO2 dosing during the temporary blackout. What negative effects will I encounter having kept the tank in a blackout for more than 24 hours? I was kind of hoping that the blackout would help in removing some of the algae in the tank.

Oh man that sucks! Sorry to hear that happened. I've been considering getting a cat myself, but your story is definitely making me rethink it. I know there are ways you can create a cover for the open top, which would help prevent fish from jumping as well. Does anyone have any links to the instructions?

After a major brawl with diatoms, the tank has fully recovered and I've transferred a few fish from my older tank. I've also added 10 Amano shrimp and 3 ottos. My next challenge is getting the right concentration of CO2 so that the plants have enough to grow and the fish aren't dying.

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